Must’ve been someone asleep at a switch somewhere…
http://www.knbc.com/news/17462062/detail.html?dl=mainclick
Roland
Hard to believe in this day and age…
Just seen on cable news that the commuter train engineer ignored the signal. Pretty bad wreck from photos on the news, headon collision, 18 dead and over 130 injured.
Sure hope the authorities test the engineers for drug and alcohol use!!
I work at a toll plaza and it is not hard to beleive after seeing some of the stunts that I have seen! A Florida Highway Patrol trooper coming to a lane that is closed, had the red traffic light lit.
Lee F.
Lee, If you heard that the engineer ran a red signal, I think that was a little premature. The NTSB will check all factors before assigning blame. Engineers ARE tested for substance and alcohol use. These are random test and you never know when they will check you. In this case I heard that the engineer on the Metrolink perished so although it would be useful to know about his blood alcohol level, it’s too late to blame him. Ray
Ray,
CNN Headlinenews or channel 41 on Comcast in West Palm Beach FL had that on about an hour ago or so. That is where I got my info from.
I know that any kind of commercial driver is tested at random, even truck drivers got random drug & alcohol testing. Also school bus drivers are checked at random as well.
Lee F.
Folks:
The news this morning in California is:
"LOS ANGELES - In a surprisingly swift assessment, the operators of the commuter train [Metrolink] involved in the head-on crash that killed at least 25 people blamed its engineer for the horrific accident.
However, a National Transportation Safety Board member cautioned that it was too early to establish the cause of Friday’s accident. Others, too, questioned the timing of the operator’s move to affix culpability."
There was also a report on the news late night that the engineer had allegedly sent a text message to someone within minutes of the crash.
These trains operate in push / pull mode with the engine sometimes at the rear of the train, I hate to think how bad this would have been if a cab car rather than the engine was out in front, As it was, the news report is that the engine was pushed back into the first passenger car.
All in all, a pretty tragic day.
I see that Veolia, the people operating Metrolink, are the same ones running our local short line. There was a rash of derailments after they took over from the previous contractor.
http://cbs2.com/local/Metrolink.Engineer.Text.2.817045.html
Pretty compelling story supporting the “Text Messaging” theory. Also video of the engineer’s railfan protégés stating and displaying the actual text messages they had recieved a minute before the crash.
NTSB will probably be able to place the exact location (Presumably adjacent the missed signal)of the train while those text messages were sent so as to establish whether or not that had anything to do with the error.
I cringe whenever I see a school bus driver talking on a cell phone…this is worse by magnitudes.
Roland
I read somewhere that apparently engineers are not supposed to have cell phones with them.
The accident was even on the dutch news. They said the signals where out of order and that research should show how that could be possible… ?? But the stories here are a bit different…
ps: In Europe driving while using a cellphone results in a $250 ticket. Surely driving while using a cellphone is illegal too in the us?
I’m afraid not, Daan. There are a few exceptional locations where it is disallowed, and more where hands-free operation only is allowed.
daan,
I have to agree with Bob Nelson on the fact that cell phone use while driving is not illegal here in the U.S., only frowned upon in certain areas. I wish it was illegal!!
Reports on the news last night had that teenage kids were texting the driver of the commutor train. Maybe a new law will be passed banning cell phone use on all trains & commercial vehicles. Sorry to see that it takes a horrible tradgity to change the laws here in the U.S.
Lee F.
Using a cell phone whilst driving is a ticketable offense in Chicago. Though everyone seems to ignore it.
11 years ago in the UK, hand held cell use was illegal in the UK. MA hasn’t passed hands free legislation yet. I drive 80 miles a day, and to me drivers using hand held cell phones present as much a hazzard to the driving public as any other single factor.
Jack [2c]
In NJ, they recently changed the law to make it a primary offense to be using a hand-held cell phone while driving.